Today I finished the niche websites unit by redoing some quizzes and completing the assignment. I thought it was fun exploring wordpress. It was actually really really easy to use. After that, I started looking over the immediate income unit and I thought it was really cool to see so many options. I already knew about making money through surveys but it was also nice to see just how many sites offer that as well. Before today, I didnt know one could make money reviewing music so I thought that was interesting. I also learned about Amazon mechanical turking and flipping and reselling.
Today I revised my digital goods assignment by adding Techie Youth to the cover and resubmitted it to kindle. However, it takes 72 hours for the ebook to be approved so its not officially up for sale yet. I also completed the selling services unit today. I thought it was really nice to see the various ways of making money by offering these services. Ive always considered freelancing and I liked how this pushed me to actually start. However, I wasnt able to publish my gig because Fiverr needs to approve my W9 form so I haven’t submitted anything to the assignment. Also the site was a little confusing. Aferwards, I worked on the niche websites unit and I thought it was interesting how terms like SEO from previous units are still just as prevalent.
Today I revised my digital goods assignment by selling it on an online marketplace aka amazon. I found the site a little hard to navigate but I ended up getting it and I put the ebook up. However it said, it needs to be reviewed and that it would take 72 hours to do so. Another assignment I worked on today was the writing assignment where I made a poster to inform and educate others about homelessness in relation to foster youths. Overall, today I learned a lot about different types of writing such as SEO, customer service, technical writing, transcription, grant writing, and more. I think I’m interested in learning more about SEO in general. I also reviewed and resubmitted some old quizzes under the crafts unit.
Today, I worked on the digital goods assignment. I made a short story called “How technology positively impacts one’s life.” It was about this 12 year old kid named Cameron who grew up in a foster home and in a not that good neighborhood. One day at school, he discovers a poster on Techie Youth and he was weirdly super drawn to it. He was going to walk away but something just pulled at him. As a result of this, he was super curious and decided to look into it in his own time. He enjoyed it a lot and kept coming back to the website and learned many more priceless information. This paid off well because as he grows up, he gets a job in IT and has many streams of income. Also, he is able to provide for his old neighborhood. Additionally, I worked on the writing unit and learned more about blogging, copyrighting, guest blogging, ghost writing, and SEO.
Today, I also looked over past units- specifically entrepreneurship, social media, online trading and digital goods. I also retook some old quizzes including commodities, getting paid, advertising, etc. I struggled a bit on some and I’ve retaken them so many times but I can’t seem to get the right answers. During this session, I also made revisions to old assignments such as the online trading, digital goods and the social media ones and resubmitted them. One takeaway I had was about sales funnel. I thought it was interesting how McDonalds was losing money on their actual burger deals but was making it up via upselling a drink and fries. This made more sense to me because I was confused how they were making money via food, since I already know they make most of their money via real estate.
Today I looked over past quizzes and assignments. I redid the digital goods and selling art assignments. I had to make a new art for the selling arts assignment and it was actually kind’ve fun, though very time consuming. I thought it was nice being able to just paint because it has been a while. Also, I thought RedBubble was confusing. In my opinion, Etsy was so much easier to use, but I wanted to try something new. Afterwards, I was reviewing old content and I realized I skipped over commodities so I started reviewing that section at the end.
Aug 10
Today, I retook a couple of quizzes, but I had challenges with some of them as well. Additionally, I resubmitted some of my old assignments. Also, I worked on stock photos and submitted a picture of coney island. In addition, I looked over the selling art section and it was nice to learn about different websites to connect with other artists. I also learned about galleries. It was interesting to me to learn that a lot of these galleries are actually struggling and they usually take artwork in increments. I ended the day with learning about music production.
I spent my morning watching GIMP tutorials. What I found particularly interesting was the face swap, miniature effect, and tiny planet effects. Afterwards, I spent a while making a bracelet for the crafts assignment, which was kind’ve fun. However, it did take longer than I had expected. Then, I spent the rest of the session reviewing the digital goods unit. I learned a lot about advertising, specifically via Facebook Ads. I have heard from other people that it’s a bit hard to, but once you get it, you could make a lot of money. I still have to complete the assignment though and I’m planning on using a stock photo.
Today, I learned more about crafts made by people from home. Specifically, clothing, jewelry, fashion items and wearable tech. I’ve always been fascinated by people who make their own clothes and jewelry. I found the “wikihow” on how to design clothes to be insightful. The last 2 summers I was thinking about sewing and learning how to crochet. Another section talked about CAD. I remember using CAD a few years back for school and it was kind’ve hectic. We didn’t go too far into depth though and these CAD articles talk about 3D printing, which I find interesting. Ultimately, I find the whole “DIY” idea to be cool.
Today I further explored crafts made by people in entrepreneurial efforts. In particular , I learned more about retrofitting electronic products. I thought the whole section was really cool in general. They were reusing old technology and scaling it better. Personally, its not something I’m interested in though and I don’t think I’d look into it further. However, I found the salvaging section to be pretty useful.
Today I learned about selling computer designed objects and technological crafts. Particularly, I foudn the project planning section to be interesting and insightful. I learned about resources and what tooling and consumables are. Additionally, I learned more about budgeting and economies of scale. Lastly, I thought it was interesting to watch all the “creation” videos and seeing the various crafts.
Aug 1- business leadership skills
Today I learned more about entrepreneurship and business leadership skills. Additionally, I learned about branding, executive summary, how to set up a legal business entry, and funding. I thought the "how to win people over" video to be insightful and interesting. His first tip was to not hold grudges and let people be who they are. I think this is something I need to work on because I find myself holding grudges sometimes. Another takeaway, I had was that you need to take interest in someone. I wasn't too surprised by this tip.
I learned about some things one needs to do before launching a new business. For instance, it's important to develop a business model, profit model, and identify your customer and your market. Particularly, a takeaway I had was that it's not necessarily a good thing for your startup to have no competition. I used to think the opposite was true due to logic. I also learned new terms today such as long tail, contingency planning, exit strategy, etc.
July 28- Mentorship
I learned about mentorship today. I've been wanting a mentor for awhile and I fall into the group of people who thinks that it's more beneficial to have a mentor as you build things step by step. After watching a video on it today, my mind's changed. I found the clip to be insightful. He talked about how it was better to just get started because things will fall into place regardless. He also gave advice on how to ask how to ask someone to be your mentor. He talked about how it was important to demonstrate what you can offer as well and how it's not a good idea to be so straight up.
Today I learned about time management. Particularly, I thought the article “getting things done” was helpful. It talked about the 5 fundamentals to getting things done.They are “capture (what has your attention), clarify (what process it takes), organize (put it where it belongs), reflect (review frequently), engage (simply do).” I also learned a new term today: production paralysis- where people tend to do smaller tasks first because they feel like they’d get more things out of the way. I think I have this too. As a whole, I found the 10 productivity tricks and tips to be helpful and I’ll implement it whenever necessary. Lastly, I started tracking how I spent every hour of my day.
July 25
Today I learned more about entrepreneurship and taking control of your life. I think it's a very interesting topic because who doesn't love the idea of financial freedom along with being able to have control over when you do certain things. One particular video I really enjoyed today was the one featuring Gary Vee. I've heard of him before but I've never dived too deep. In this video, he was talking to this girl about her "career" and questions. Some takeaways I had from this video was when he said that it's important to just enjoy the process and keep grinding. Also, he said to stop comparing your progress to other people because "every second you spend on thinking about what someone else has takes away from time you could be working on yourself." I thought that was really important given modern technology and how everyone is super involved on social media.
I learned more about entrepreneurship today, specifically, the 5 skills an entrepreneur needs. They are communication, sales, focus, ability to learn, and business strategy. In the article, a fun fact I thought was interesting was how one of the main risks an entrepreneur faces is emotional instability. Additionally, I really enjoyed the youtube video where a bunch of successful entrepreneurs were giving out "priceless" advice. I thought it was nice to see familiar faces as well. A common one I heard a lot was them emphasizing how it was important to follow your passions and interests. I do agree because I feel like a lot of people often let money lead the way, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it can possibly have a negative impact.
I gained insight on how to successfully work a remote job today. In particular, I learned about 10 steps to setting and achieving goals at work. One step I think is really important is to be aware of what your goals are at the workplace, for instance promotions. Specifically, step 5 is to "go beyond immediate tasks and think of the big picture." I think it's really important because it also talks about further developing other potentially valuable skill sets.
I gained a lot of insight on interviewing today. For instance, I learned about the STAR method which is- situation, task, action, and result. Additionally, I overlooked some common interview questions. I’ve done my fair share of interviews so it was interesting to look at which ones I’ve been asked before and one’s I’ve never been asked. Particularly, I thought the question “are you a leader or a follower” strange because of how straightforward it is.
I learned about stock options today. I learned that options are typically higher risk and has a higher potential return than stocks. An interesting fact I learned was that stock options can expire within 90 days of leaving a company. Additionally, I learned the fundamentals of stock options along with the 6 steps of choosing good options. They are:
1. Formulate your investment objective.
2. Determine your risk-reward payoff.
3. Check the volatility.
4. Identify events.
5. Devise a strategy.
6. Establish option parameters.
July 13
A takeaway I had was "never work with people who don't share the same ethics." I thought the place the youtuber worked at was so gross since they were re-wiping plates with used napkins. Additionally, I felt bad about the restaurant not having decaf coffee and they had to lie about it. Another thing I learned today was how to write checks and I learned what a check register was.
July 14
Today I learned how to read stock charts and I learned how to research stocks. For instance, I learned how to look for lines of support and resistance and identify when dividends and stock splits happen, etc. In addition, I learned new stock terms and vocabs such as ticker tape, Dow Jones Industrial ave, SEC, etc.
July 15
I learned what REITs are and I think it’s something I want to explore deeper. I like how it's like real estate investing but it's not as risky. I also like how in some ways it's not as risky as stocks. I thought it was interesting how there are also non traded REITs. Lastly, I learned that to avoid getting taxed heavily from REITs distribution is to invest through IRAs or 401k.
I learned about various ways of making money on the internet. Something that stuck with me was when someone said that on a daily basis, they see a lot of New Yorkers playing games on their phone on the subway meanwhile they're always trying to do something productive. As someone who does the same as the former, it does make me feel a little guilty about that. If anything, I think it motivates me more to find something more productive and useful to do.